Howard County, MD, August 2023 - Summer is heating up in the Howard County housing market. Sales prices continue to follow the national trend of soaring like our heat index; however, units sold and new listings are not keeping pace compared to the previous year, according to the Howard County Association of REALTORS® (HCAR), which released its June 2023 Housing Report on Thursday, August 3, 2023.
According to HCAR, in June 2023, the median sold price for residential homes in Howard County was $623,000, representing an increase of 10.3 percent compared to the previous month, and an increase of 7.4 percent from June 2022.
The Howard County housing market is experiencing an unchanged home demand. As reported by the Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index (HDI), the index for Howard County in June 2023 remained consistent at 117, indicating a static status of moderate conditions.
Typically, a market with between four and five months of supply indicates a balanced housing market. Currently, there is one month of supply in Howard County, which is higher than the same time last year by 37.5%. The months-of-supply metric is based on average sales activity over the past 12 months. This measure can overstate how rapidly inventory is being consumed in a changing housing market.
New listings were down 40.3 percent (365) from last year (611) but increased 15.5 percent from the previous month (316). The average days on market for units sold was 10 days, which is a 32 percent decrease from the five-year June average of 15 days.
Active listings in Howard County were up 25.4 percent (247) compared to the previous year (197). Closed sales (338) saw a 25.2 percent decrease compared to the previous year (452) and a 27.5 percent increase compared to the previous month (265).
There was a 3.8 percent month-over-month (MoM) decrease in new contract activity with 352 new pendings; a 3.7 percent MoM decrease in all pendings (new contracts + contracts carried over from May) to 445; and a 23.5 percent increase in supply to 305 active units.
This activity resulted in a Contract Ratio of 1.46 pendings per active listing, which is a decrease from 1.87 compared to May 2023 and a decrease from 1.69 in June 2022, respectively. The Contract Ratio was 10 percent lower than the five-year June average of 1.62.
A higher Contract Ratio signifies a relative increase in contract activity compared to supply, and indicates the market is moving in the seller's favor. A lower Contract Ratio signifies a relative decrease in contract activity compared to supply, and indicates the market is moving in the buyer's favor.
HCAR’s monthly local housing statistics are pulled from the Bright Multiple Listing Service. The Bright MLS service area includes Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
Visit www.hcar.org for more information.
More about the Howard County Association of REALTORS®
The Howard County Association of REALTORS® is fortunate enough to represent over 2,000 real estate professionals in Howard County. HCAR’s mission is to advance Howard County’s real estate industry by shaping public policy on real property issues; and encouraging, promoting, and teaching consistent standards for ethical practice and professionalism for our REALTOR® members.
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